PANTHERS 4, LEAFS 2

Florida Panthers win as home fans boo Maple Leafs

The Panthers improved to 3-0 in Ontario this season and caused Toronto fans to turn against their own team.

Miami Beach to beef up tourism business

Miami Beach will convene a tourism task force to guide the city's top industry amid a declining economy. Th...

SMALL BUSINESS

Florida stimulus plan aims to create jobs

Gov. Charlie Crist outlined an economic stimulus package targeting small businesses.

FIU FOOTBALL

Transfer QB Carroll eager to help FIU's Golden Panthers

A former All-SEC quarterback, a defensive end and a kicker are joining FIU and excited to try and help brin...

BROWARD COURTS

Judge in Anna Nicole Smith case cleared of wrongdoing

TALLAHASSEE

Florida House speaker aided pal's proposal

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom met last month in Destin with local officials to talk about an emergency f...

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

2 employees accused of embezzling from Miami volunteer group

A pair of former employees of the volunteer group Hands on Miami are facing a criminal investigation, accus...

BROWARD DEVELOPMENT

Davie Commons stirring the political waters

County Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin has been a trailblazer, but could her pro-development vote and et...

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Budget cuts endanger public safety, Broward sheriff warns

Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, sworn in Tuesday, said future budget cuts might have to come at the expense of...

BROWARD COUNTY

Broward tax-assessment drop likely to force bigger cuts

Broward officials will have to cut up to $180 million from the county's budget this year in the wake of plu...

Weston principal arrested on domestic-violence charge

The principal of a Weston middle school was arrested on a domestic-violence charge after his wife told poli...

THE OBAMA TRANSITION

Obama offers surgeon general job to TV's Gupta

TV personality Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, has been offered the post of surgeon general, sources said.

RETIREMENT

Social Security uses Web to sign up baby boomers

Faced with an onslaught of retiring baby boomers, the Social Security agency has unveiled a streamlined onl...

MUSIC

Apple has changed its tune on pricing

At iTunes, copying limits will be lifted and the majority of songs will drop to 69 cents in April, while hi...

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. troops find job stability in war

Many U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan feel they are better off extending their tours rather than returning home...

TEEN PREGNANCY

U.S. teen birth rates end 14-year drop

After a long decline, U.S. teen birth rates are on the upswing again.

ELECTIONS

Some states shortchange military voters overseas, study says

A study found that the voting rules in many states make it tough for service members stationed abroad to ca...

Judge: Government hiding evidence in Gitmo case

In a federal court in Washington, a judge handling a habeas corpus petition accused the Bush administration...

Burris denied seat in US Senate to succeed Obama

HEALTHCARE

Growth rate of health spending slows in U.S.

A slower rate of spending for retail prescription drugs led a national trend for an easing of the spending-...

VENEZUELA

Hugo Chávez shuts off discounted heating oil to U.S. poor

Venezuela's state oil company is suspending a much-promoted program that provided discounted heating oil to...

INAUGURATION

Florida invited to party with Obamas

There will be 10 officially sanctioned inaugural balls. Florida will be part of the Southern Inaugural Ball.

CONFLICT IN GAZA

Attack on U.N.-run school a flash point in Middle East

Dozens of Palestinians were reported dead after an Israeli strike on a Gaza school where they sought refuge...

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. troops find job stability in war

Many U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan feel they are better off extending their tours rather than returning home...

Palestinians say strike on 2nd UN school kills 30

Palestinian medical officials say the death toll from an Israeli air strike outside a United Nations school...

U.S. opens massive American Embassy in Baghdad

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called the new U.S. Embassy a symbol of a close and growing relationship bet...

CONFLICT IN GAZA | NEAR THE BORDER

Two miles and two views of Gaza battle

The people of a Gaza town and an Israeli town see the results of fighting in different ways.

THE MIDDLE EAST | CONFLICT IN GAZA

On both sides of Gaza war, the children suffer

Israel rebuffed international calls for a Gaza cease-fire as civilian casualties continued to rise.

MUMBAI ATTACK

India confronts Pakistan over Mumbai

Indian officials gave Pakistan a dossier full of connections of Pakistanis to the Mumbai terrorist attack.

France tries accused 9/11 plotter in Tunisia blast

Three men charged with involvement in a deadly synagogue bombing in Tunisia went on trial Monday in Paris i...

U.N. envoy: Nations must take Guantánamo inmates

More nations must take in Guantánamo inmates once the U.S.-run prison closes, the U.N.'s torture inv...

THE MIDDLE EAST | CONFLICT IN GAZA

Israeli troops go house to house in Gaza offensive

Israel's ground offensive bisected the Gaza Strip, brought heavy fighting and deepened the humanitarian cri...

40 visitors to Baghdad shrine killed

A female suicide bomber somehow managed to avoid a search and detonated a bomb that killed as many as 40 pe...

VENEZUELA

Chávez forced to curb spending

Sinking oil prices pose a new challenge to Venezuela's socialist government.

Venezuela expels Israeli ambassador over Gaza

Venezuela ordered Israel's ambassador expelled from the country on Tuesday in protest over the Israeli mili...

VENEZUELA

Hugo Chávez shuts off discounted heating oil to U.S. poor

Venezuela's state oil company is suspending a much-promoted program that provided discounted heating oil to...

Turkey holds suspicious Iran-Venezuela shipment

Turkey was holding a suspicious shipment bound for Venezuela from Iran because it contained lab equipment c...

HAITI

U.S. denies Haitians protected status

The administration has rejected storm-ravaged Haiti's request to grant undocumented Haitians in the United ...

THE WASHINGTON POST

Brazil police try war tactics in violent slums

Rio de Janeiro police have regularly launched large operations in Brazil's favelas, or slums, in their batt...

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Mexico's Subcomandante Marcos makes a rare appearance

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mexico kidnappers targeting U.S. links

A string of kidnappings in Mexico, singling out people with children or spouses in the United States, so pa...

EL SALVADOR

Salvadoran leftist leads presidential race

The left-wing candidate in the March presidential election has been leading in polls in a polarizing El Sal...

50 YEARS | REVOLUTION AND EXILE

'Yanqui' rebel William Morgan's saga in Cuban revolution is revived

The image of the 'yanqui comandante' has faded, but ex-rebels still recall his role in a revolution that ch...

NICARAGUA

Nicaragua gains land by removing Contra war mines

Nicaraguan farmers are reclaiming plots once covered with thousands of land mines planted during the Contra...

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom quits college post

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom resigned from his job at a college amid criticism over money he steered to...

STATE BUDGET

Budget crisis getting worse, Florida lawmakers are told

Lawmakers returned to Tallahassee to cut the state budget and close the deficit but were greeted with more ...

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

Florida Legislature about to chop budgets for education, other services

The Legislature will tackle the state's budget crisis Monday by cutting programs and borrowing money, but t...

LEGISLATURE | ETHICS COMPLAINT

Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom hires attorney in ethics case

An ethics complaint against House Speaker Ray Sansom has prompted the lawmaker to hire a high-profile attor...

LEGISLATURE

Florida Legislature to hear public's views on budget cuts

As the Legislature heads into a special session on the state's budget crisis, lawmakers will offer the publ...

TALLAHASSEE

Northwest Florida State College has a friend in Legislature

E-mail shows close ties between House Speaker Ray Sansom and Northwest Florida State College, where Sansom ...

TALLAHASSEE

Gov. Crist's budget plan spends savings

Gov. Charlie Crist's plan to close a budget shortfall includes tapping into the state's savings accounts.

FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

Second Cuban American in running for Florida Supreme Court seat

First out of the running for the Florida Supreme Court, Jorge Labarga now has an interview scheduled for We...

Weston lawmaker Franklin Sands among Madoff's victims

Weston legislator Franklin Sands -- Democratic leader of the Florida House -- said Monday he and his wife L...

THE LEGISLATURE

Lawmakers cash in with campus jobs

Former and current lawmakers are finding employment at community colleges and state universities, even in t...

GAMBLING

Powerful forces oppose Seminoles' gambling expansion

New pressure is mounting to stop the Seminoles' expansion of blackjack throughout Florida.

ESOL advocates fighting loss of teacher training

Clara E. Martinez stood in front of her middle-school students at Coral Way K-8 Center in Miami and asked t...

HIGHER EDUCATION

Florida universities fear losing top researchers, grants

Amid a state budget crunch, Florida's 11 universities are faced with losing their top researchers and the g...

SCHOOLS

Enrollment down 30,000 at Florida's public schools

Enrollment in Florida public schools has dropped for the third straight year, state figures show. After pea...

THE LEGISLATURE

Lawmakers cash in with campus jobs

Former and current lawmakers are finding employment at community colleges and state universities, even in t...

EDUCATION

Broward Teachers Union: Stop rehiring retirees

The Broward Teachers Union wants the district to quit rehiring employees who have retired, saying that thos...

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS

Hearing on Miami-Dade teachers' raises ends

The United Teachers of Dade and the Miami-Dade public school district Tuesday finished their second day of ...

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS

Top principal in Florida takes over F school

Miami Central High, a chronically failing school, is getting a new principal -- the state's best.

ALLAPATTAH

Aunt says clerk whipped child

An 8-year-old boy said he and several other children had been hit by a clerical worker at their school.

MIAMI-DADE SUCCESS ACADEMY

Dade program pays 'F' school students who get tutored

The Miami-Dade school district's new Success Academy will pay students at nine struggling schools who atten...

MIRAMAR

Three students at Miramar school suspended for sexual activity

Police and school district officials say three Glades Middle School students were involved in sexual activi...

MIAMI-DADE SCHOOLS

Miami-Dade School Board votes to sue state over funding

The Miami-Dade School Board will sue the state to make up funding it says it's not getting from local taxes.

Swarm of Yellowstone earthquakes doesn't pose risk, scientists say

When you have 400 earthquakes on top of one of the largest supervolcanoes on Earth, people pay attention.

Bush moves to protect large areas of the Pacific

President George W. Bush on Tuesday will create three new marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean to protect ...

Death of corals is oceanographer's murder mystery

Marine scientist John Bruno became interested in coral reefs as a boy snorkeling in the turquoise waters of...

Elephant populations decline in the wild, but zoos may not be the answer

In Chad, the ivory poachers have upgraded to automatic weapons.

EVERGLADES

Ruling puts brakes on Tamiami Trail bridge project

The Miccosukee Tribe won its bid for an injunction to stop the building of the one-mile Tamiami Trail bridg...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

More research on Everglades projects ahead

With a federal judge blocking plans to build a new Tamiami Trail bridge, federal agencies fall back on plan...

FLORIDA REEFS

Climate change increases problems for Florida reefs

Despite new federal protections, Elkhorn Coral may disappear from the waters off the coast of South Florida

THE EVERGLADES

U.S. Sugar land deal is approved -- with an escape clause

South Florida water managers approved the controversial purchase of U.S. Sugar land considered essential to...

THE EVERGLADES

Hurdles remain for Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal

Skeptical lawmakers and a House committee review loom among upcoming hurdles for the state's controversial ...

ENVIRONMENT

Gov. Crist led all-out push to save Big Sugar deal

With his Big Sugar deal on shaky ground, Gov. Charlie Crist mounted a hefty political push that shored up t...

That holiday gift from your tree-hugger friend contains a hidden danger: biodegradable packing peanuts

That holiday gift from your tree-hugger friend may contain a hidden danger: biodegradable packing peanuts -...

New Senate will miss old members

When the new Congress begins this week, a great many familiar faces will be missing. While the most notable...

EL SALVADOR

Former Salvadoran guerrilla explores crippling post-war political divide

Joaquín Villalobos, 57, was one of the top commanders of the FMLN, the coalition of guerrilla groups...

COMMENTARY

Keep politics out of our state courts

By the early 1970s, patronage politics had severely undermined confidence in Florida's judiciary. After he ...

The empty chair at the holiday table

Even in hard times, this is the holiday season and a time when thoughts turn to home and family and dinner ...

COMMENTARY

Coming year will be one of change, crises

The coming year will be a narrative of tension -- a series of difficult choices between the imperatives of ...

AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT

Much worth saving that UAW built

A failure to help the Big Three automakers would destroy an institution that secured half a century's worth...

Sansom offers bruising ride for taxpayers

It's been barely a month since Ray Sansom was sworn in as Florida's new speaker of the House, and the Desti...

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE

Talk-radio industry fears fairness law could silence them

Some talk radio fans fear Democrats are ready to reimpose the Fairness Doctrine, which mandates ideological...

Questions still darken Iraq's future

BAGHDAD -- As soon as I arrived here, I went to visit the neighborhood of Hay Salaam, my bellwether as to t...

Soul for sale -- Rod and Satan have a talk

From the voluminous, still-to-be-indexed FBI wiretaps of Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich: The governor: ``...

MIAMI HERALD OMBUDSMAN

Newspapers' voices changed once, and might again

We surely all had the same question upon reading the story last week that real-estate developer Jorge Perez...

Michigan city considers dyeing Saginaw River green

A man's request to dye the Saginaw River emerald green for St. Patrick's Day has raised a red flag among so...

Neb. man sues ex-wife for putting recorder in toy

An Omaha man has filed a lawsuit accusing his ex-wife and former father-in-law of hiding a recording device...

Worker accidentally spills pills into cake batter

The Connecticut Department of Development Services has placed an employee on administrative leave after pre...

Bummer: Man's bottom bared in Vail ski-lift mishap

A guy who dangled upside down from a ski lift with his bare bottom exposed probably doesn't want to hear an...

Bummer: Man's bottom bared in Colo ski-lift mishap

A guy who dangled upside down from a ski lift with his bare bottom exposed probably doesn't want to hear an...

Scorned ex posts vandalism photo on MySpace

A scorned 21-year-old told her ex-boyfriend that he couldn't prove she was the one who vandalized his apart...

Utah woman spends day stuck headfirst down vent

Talk about deep cleaning. An woman was recovering after spending more than a day lodged inside a vent at he...

Lou the mule alerts Tenn. woman to house on fire

Lou the mule brayed his way into his owner's heart with a New Year's warning that her rural Tennessee home ...

Believe it or not: A list of the top lies of 2008

The Burlington Liars Club in Burlington, Wis., revealed its 2008 Champion Lie on Monday as part of an annua...

Father-son duo accused of gravestone robbing

Police are puzzling over what would motivate a father and son to haul off six tombstones from a monument co...

Boy, 4, shoots babysitter for stepping on his foot

Police say an angry 4-year-old Ohio boy grabbed a gun from a closet and shot his baby sitter. Nathan Beaver...